For Next Week: Portfolio Guidelines

On Monday/Tuesday, I will hand back your Paper #4 with comments.  Each paper will have the guidelines (below) for your Portfolio attached.  I gave you these during your first paper conference ages ago, but I want to make sure you remember what I expect for the portfolio.  Read the guidelines below and let me know if you have any questions.  

THE COMPOSITION 2 PORTFOLIO

NOTE: You cannot e-mail the portfolio to me.  It must be submitted in hard copy form to my office.  If I do not receive your portfolio by our Final Exam Date, you will get a 0% for the portfolio.  You cannot turn it in late for any reason. 

Your portfolio should have/contain the following:

1.) A simple folder for the three papers—nothing fancy, a manila folder or normal pocket folder will do.  PLEASE do not hole punch the papers or place them into a three-ring binder.  Place them in loosely but please staple each paper together.

2.) Your name and class period and e-mail should be somewhere on the outside of the folder.  Please don’t include an elaborate cover page, just a simple identification on the front so I know it’s yours.  I ask you to include your e-mail address (the one you actually check) so I can e-mail your final results to you after Finals. 

3.) Papers 1-4, Revised.  By “revised” I mean you have read through my comments and tried to incorporate my suggestions to make your paper a ‘second draft’ paper.  If you received an A or an A- on a paper, I consider that a ‘second draft’ paper and you wouldn’t need to revise it.  You may include the previous draft of the paper but are not required to.  I will grade them as brand new papers, so don’t need the original to compare.  That said, if you made a C paper the first time and don’t change it, it will remain a C paper (I’m looking for exactly the same things).

NOTES ON REVISION:

• Don’t simply change a sentence or two and call it a day.  Look carefully at my comments—they often ask you to change an introduction, add more passages from a source, or discuss a quotation in more detail. 
• Make sure you clean up all spelling errors and obvious (sloppy) grammar issues.  Many papers were very sloppy—full of spelling errors that even Spell Check would have caught.  A paper that reads like this could potentially receive an even lower grade.
• Look at the original assignment again (you can find them all on our blog).  Make sure you actually followed the assignment carefully.  Many students got a lower grade on a paper simply because they ignored one of the major components of an assignment. 
• Make sure you cite your sources correctly and have a Works Cited page for each paper.  Check your comments—many of you did not cite your quotations properly (or at all!).  This is an example of a ‘sloppy’ error and must be fixed in your portfolio.
• DUE NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY, MAY 6th BY 5pm 

For Wednesday/Thursday: Planet of the Apes, Chs.25-30 & Paper #4 (below)

NOTE: Tuesday's questions (for TR classes) are BELOW this one.  These are for Wednesday (MWF classes) and Thursday (TR classes).  

Answer 2 of the following...

1. What happens to Professor Antelle, the man who organized the trip to Soror in the first place?  Where does Ulysse find him, and how has he adapted to the strange new world of ‘human’ society?  What might this say about our own humanity and relative civilization in the past and future? 

2. The experiment conducted by Cornelius and Helius finally sheds light on the destruction of human civilization on Soror.  What was it that made humans decline and apes advance?  Why did our race “give up” in the face of a new competitor?  What might this say about Boulle’s ideas about civilization and the human intellect? 

3. Why is Ulysse so intent on teaching the other humans to talk and become more "ape-like"?  Originally he wanted to be the only one, but something changes in these chapters.  What would this prove to him, and what evidence does he have that such evolution is even possible (especially since Zira and the others think it a lost cause)?  

4. On page 150 (Ch.30),  Ulysse writes, "Machines will always be machines; the most perfected robot, always a robot.  But what of living creatures possessing a certain degree of intelligence like apes?  And apes, precisely, are endowed with a keen sense of imitation..."  What does he mean by this, and ultimately in his mind, what separates artificial intelligence from "human" intelligence?  What is our greatest asset over the 'animal' world?  

Paper #4: Travelers from Planet Metaphor

BACKGROUND:

Boulle’s novel, The Planet of the Apes, uses science fiction as a metaphor, to showcase and satirize many of our beliefs about science and the modern world.  In our struggle to master the earth and the stars, we often forget about our own human frailties, and ignore issues of race, poverty, ethics, and equality.  By focusing on another world, in another time and place, it becomes easier to make connections to our own world—and the questions that science is beginning to ask, that we have yet to answer.

THE ASSIGNMENT:

For your final paper, I want you to use The Planet of the Apes to help you “read”

a science fiction movie/show as a metaphor for the modern world.  In other words, how can the ideas, issues, concerns, and predictions of this novel connect with another work of art (a movie) that is also from “planet metaphor”?  Remember, science fiction is merely a frame: we need to look inside and see our own reflection staring back at us.  So try to find a movie that is loosely is loosely about the future, or a possible past, or a different present that has some elements of science fiction: robots, space, technology, advanced medicine, clones, aliens, super heroes, apocalypse, and yes, even zombies.  How do the characters, ideas, and issues of this film connect with The Planet of the Apes?  What are both works trying to say about our world and our time?  What is it trying to warn us about?  What is it trying to compare through the metaphor of a possible future? 

Don’t know any science fiction movies? We actually have several in our library which you can check out. You can also find many on Netflix, You Tube, Amazon, or for sale cheap at Walmart or Hastings.  Here are some recent/notable movies to consider if you’re drawing a blank: Avengers, X-Men (any of them), The Hunger Games, Divergent, Star Trek (any of them), Star Wars, Never Let Me Go, Wall-E, Blade Runner, Inception, I, Robot, World War Z, I Am Legend, or even TV shows like The Walking Dead, Falling Skies, etc. 

REQUIREMENTS:

·       At least 3-4 pages, double spaced

·       A CONVERSATION between you, Planet of the Apes, and your film/show: so QUOTE and discuss the connections

·       You must also reference specific scenes from the movie you use and not simply summarize the plot; make sure the film is also part of the conversation

·       MLA citation throughout; introduce quotations; proofread! 

·       DUE Friday, April 24^th by 5pm

For Friday/Tuesday: Planet of the Apes, Chs.12-25

From the 1968 film, Planet of the Apes 

For Next Week: Boulle’s Planet of the Apes, Chs. 12-25

 Answer 2 of the following…

1. How does Ulysse convince Zira that he is not only a thinking animal, but a true ‘ape’—that is, someone of reason and science?  Why does she—and others, particularly the scientist Zaius—have reason to doubt his proofs of intelligence?

2. How is the simian world of Soror organized?  What kind of government/society do they have?  Who does what—who answers to whom?  How might this be a metaphor for the ways that societies on earth are organized (either in France or in America)?

3. What primary role does man serve for the apes on Soror?  Though inferior, why are they still of vital importance?  How might this relate to our own ideas of 'inferior' species on Earth?  

4. How does Ulysse and Zira's relationship develop throughout these chapters?  How are they both surprised by it, and why would it be shocking for both human and ape cultures?  

For Next Week: Boulle, Planet of the Apes, Chs.1-11

NOTE: This is for Monday (MWF classes) and Thursday (TR classes); you're on very different schedules!  

Answer 2 of the following...

 1. Why do you think the work opens with a ‘frame narrative’—two space travelers who find a message in a bottle?  Why is the entire story presented as the travelers reading this message from men long ago (and why are they so surprised, do you think, that it was written by men)? 

2. Why is the narrator so taken with Nova, the human woman from planet Soror?  What surprises and even disturbs him about her?  In what was does she confirm or deny his assumption about humanity or being ‘human’?

3. In Chapter 11, the narrator writes that “these apes, male and female, gorillas and chimpanzees, were not in any way ridiculous…Both head and hat were in keeping and there was nothing at all unnatural about any of their gestures.”  Why does he keep emphasizing the fact that the apes were “natural” and not ridiculous? 

4. Why do both the humans and the apes act with either anger or disbelief when the narrator tries to speak, laugh, or even smile?  How does each group interpret his attempts to be ‘civilized,’ and how might we translate their reaction into the modern world?  What might make us act in a similar way?  

Scissortail Festival Extra Credit

Remember, no class this Thursday/Friday: instead, you have the option to go to the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival.  Here is a link to the schedule of readings: http://ecuscissortail.blogspot.com/2015/01/2015-scissortail-schedule-of-readings.html

Attend at least ONE session and respond to the questions below either on this post or bring it to class next week.  You must answer ALL the questions for the extra credit, not just 2 of 4 as usual!  :)

QUESTIONS FOR SCISSORTAIL SESSION:

1. Discuss the manner in which one of the authors presented his/her works.  How did he/she read it, perform it, or explain it?  How did this help you appreciate the work or understand it?  Would you have responded to it the same way if you had encountered it in a book? 

2. How do you feel the three works on the panel worked together?  Were there any similar themes, subject matter, ideas, or points of view?  Did one work help you understand another?  Or did they clash in an interesting way?  Why do you think these works were presented together?

3. How did the poet(s) read their works differently than the prose writer(s)?  How does poetry read differently than prose (novels, stories, etc.)?  Which performance did you find most interesting—the poetry or the prose?  Why?  Do you think it would be the same on the page?

4. Discuss one of the works that you responded strongly to—either with surprise, love, admiration, or even disgust.  Why did the work evoke this response from you?  Did other people in the audience seem to respond/react the same way?  Did the author want this response—or do you think he/she might be surprised by it? 

For next Friday/Tuesday: "Home, Rest, and Final Voyages"

NOTE: For TR classes, Thursday's questions are below this one...

Reading/Discussion Questions for

Songs for the Open Road: Part III, "Home, Rest, and Final Voyages"

Read the following poems for Friday:

·       McKay, "The Tropics in New York"

·       Bronte, "Home"

·       Dunbar, "Anchored"

·       Rossetti, "Up-Hill"

·       de la Mare, "The Listeners"

·       Dickinson, "The Chariot"

·       Hopkins, "Heaven-Haven"

·       Shelley, "Ozymandius"

Answer 2 of the 4 questions that follow...

How does McKay's discussion of home differ from Bronte's?  What does the concept of "home" mean to each one?  Is one more literal than the other?  What metaphors does each associate with home?

Compare two of the poems that discuss death as a "final journey": what metaphors translate the experience of travel to death itself?  How obvious is this from the poem?  Which poem do you feel helps you "see" the experience of death more clearly? 

Two of the poems, de la Mare's "The Listeners" and Shelley's "Ozymandias" are more about the journey after death than the journey to it.  What does each poem seem to suggest about life after death?  What kind of "ghosts" do we leave behind?  

How might Dunbar's poem "Anchored" and Hopkins' poem "Heaven-Haven" be almost the same poem, written from a slightly different perspective?  What keeps Dunbar "anchored" from going on his final journey, and why has Hopkins "desired to go," and "asked to be" in a place rather than the place he is in now?  What keeps them both--and perhaps, all of us--from going on a great adventure that beckons us from afar?  

For next Wednesday/Thursday: "Sea, Rail, and Sky"

[NOTE: The questions for Tuesday's class are below this one] 

Next Reading/Discussion Questions for Songs For The Open Road: Part II, "Sea, Rail and Sky"

Read the following poems:

Dickinson, "Exultation is in the Going" (20)

Longfellow, "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" (28)

Millay, "Exiled" (22-23) & "Travel" (35)

Sandburg, "From the Shore" (28-29) & "Window" (38)

Dunbar, "Ships That Pass in the Night" (30) & "Sympathy” (35)

Hughes, "Pennsylvania Station" (38)

Magee Jr., “High Flight” (41)

Bevington, “The Journey is Everything” (44)

Answer TWO of the following questions

1. How do one or more of the poems above develop the sea as a metaphor about life, love, death, etc?  Be sure to quote/examine individual lines so we can see what the poet is comparing the sea to (is the sea life, love, adventure, dreams, etc.)?
2. How does one or more of the poems above develop railroads as a metaphor about life, love, death, etc? Be sure to quote/examine individual lines so we can see what the poet is comparing the sea to (is the sea life, love, adventure, dreams, etc.)?
3. How does one or more of the poems develop flying as a metaphor about life, love, death, etc.?  Be sure to quote/examine individual lines so we can see what the poet is comparing the sea to (is the sea life, love, adventure, dreams, etc.)?

For Friday/Tuesday (depending on your class): Songs of the Open Road, pp.1-18

This assignment is for FRIDAY for MWF classes, and TUESDAY for TR classes.

Read the section "Songs for the Open Road" on pages 1-18 and pick out 4-5 poems that particularly capture your attention.  Read these poems (they're all pretty short) more than once.  Then answer the questions that follow based on these poems:

Answer BOTH of the following questions…

1. Discuss how ONE of the poems you chose takes a common metaphor such as "love is magic" or "the body is a machine" and develops it in new and interesting ways.  Remember that a poem takes ideas we all understand (such as common metaphors, cliches, etc.) and twists them around, changing our experience of the world.  

 For example, in Thoreau's poem, "I Was Born Upon Thy Bank, River" (13), he writes that "My blood flows in thy stream," which is a metaphor: it is ultimately saying "memories are like blood," or "tradition is like blood."  In other words, what flows in the river is not literal blood, but his traditions, memories, and family identity.  This helps us understand the final line, where he writes that the river lives forever "at the bottom of my dream."  This means that the river, which is literal, becomes a metaphor: "memories are like rivers."  They flow, they meander, they refresh us, and they are always part of us.  How does your poem do some of the same things? 

2. Choose a SECOND poem and explain how it helps us see 'travel' as a metaphor for something greater?  For example, in Thoreau's poem, you can travel on a river, but the idea of traveling becomes metaphorical: you travel through your memories and your heart's desire on a "river" of dreams.  In other words, the greatest adventures we have in life are internal--the ones we remember or re-create in our minds, which lead to the "rivers" of our souls.  Discuss how your poem does something similar for travel and makes it a larger experience than simply moving from place to place.  

Citing Sources in Paper #2 Handout

Citing Sources in Paper #2 (a refresher in MLA)

The Quotation Sandwich: Introduction + Quotation + Response

As Krakauer explains after his return, “The ordinary pleasures of life at home—eating breakfast with my wife, watching the sun go down over Puget Sound, being able to get up in the middle of the night and walk barefoot to a warm bathroom—generated flashes of joy that bordered on rapture.  But such moments were tempered by the long penumbra cast by Everest, which seemed to recede little with the passing of time” (282)

OR,

Krakauer notes that, despite appreciating the simple things in life again, most of his enjoyment was “tempered by the long penumbra cast by Everest, which seemed to recede little with the passing of time” (282).  Then Respond to this quote—explain what he means by this—what is the “penumbra” that Everest casts on his life?  And does it do the same to others? 

WORKS CITED

For Books:

Krakauer, Jon.  Into Thin Air.  New York: Anchor Books, 1997.  Print. 

For EBSCO Articles:

Peterson, Linda.  “Left For Dead On Mt. Everest.”  Biography 4.12 (2000): 96.  Biography Reference Center.  Web. 2 March 2015. 

For Web +Articles:

Burke, Jason.  “Himalayan storm disaster claims even more victims.”  The Guardian On-Line.  18 October 2014.  < http://www.theguardian.com/ world/2014/oct/18/himalayan-storm-claims-seven-more-victims> Web. 

For Films/TV:

The Wildest Dream.  Dir. Anthony Geffen.  Perf. Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson,

          Alan Rickman.  DVD. Virgil Films, 2011. 

Paper #2 assignment (the next set of questions is posted below this)

Paper #2: Culture Above the Clouds

“Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality” (253). 

For this conversation about travel, I want you to write from ONE of the following:

Ø  A family member of one of the clients who died (you can pretend to be a specific one or simply remain vague about who you were related to)

Ø  One of the experienced guides from the Adventure Consultants or Mountain Madness teams

Ø  A Sherpa from one of the expeditions

From this perspective, I want you to either attack or defend the idea of tourism on Mt. Everest.  Should climbing Everest be a tourist attraction, despite the incredible danger, uncertainty, cost, and possible damage to the local environment/culture?  Is it worth the risk and the expense?  As you can imagine, the widow/widower of one of the victims would probably be very against the entire idea, especially once he/she realized how the culture of Everest doesn’t provide much room for error—or a safety net for mistakes.  On the other hand, the guides and Sherpas rely on tourism for their livelihood, and want the expeditions to continue despite occasional disasters.  HOWEVER, after this disaster, it’s possible that a guide could decide that future expeditions would be unethical, and a Sherpa could decide that the industry is dangerous to his culture and religion.  You can take any position on this topic, but consider how your writer would examine it. 

SOME IDEAS TO RESPOND TO (BUT YOU CAN CONSIDER OTHERS):

v  Should only trained professionals be on the mountain?  Should you have to be part of the culture (have experience, not need bottled oxygen, etc.)? 

v  Can any company promise to get their clients to the top, or at least to “maximize” their success rate?  Is it ethical?

v  Was the culture of climbing—and specifically, the competitive nature of the guides/Sherpas—responsible for more deaths than the mountain itself?

v  Is getting to the summit a safe goal?  After all, once up, you still have to get down. 

v  Is the culture of tourism incompatible with the culture of climbing?

v  Can Sherpa culture exist without climbing/tourism?  Do we have an obligation to continue?

v  Are their lessons to be learned from the 1996 disaster that could improve the industry?  Is it still a viable industry? 

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

v  You must quote from Into Thin Air for support throughout your paper; have a conversation with the book—show where your ideas came from. 

v  You need at least 2-3 outside sources besides Into Thin Air to help you develop your views.  Articles and essays could talk about this disaster, other disasters, climbing, Everest, Sherpa culture, or Tourism in general. 

v  Consider the Naysayer: this is someone (perhaps one of the other groups) who would either disagree with you totally or would simply see another side of the discussion.  You should address this conversation/person in your paper and respond to it. 

v  DUE Monday, March 9th by 5pm (for MWF classes) 
            Tuesday, March 10th by 5pm (for TR classes) 

Last Questions for Into Thin Air (pp.207-254)

For Friday (MWF classes)/Tuesday (TR classes): Into Thin Air, pp. 207-254

NOTE: These are our last questions for the novel; we will do an in-class writing for the final chapters, so be sure to answer these, as they will definitely help you on Paper #2.  

Answer 2 of the 4 questions that follow:

1. Why did the various tourist groups get so disorganized and lost so quickly?  Hall and other had established district timelines and protocols to follow to avoid these very mishaps.  So why did they go off schedule?  Was any one person responsible for this?  Was it more the fault of the guides or the clients? 

2. These chapters of the book offer a strange double portrait of Bourkeev: at one point he seems totally indifferent to the clients, someone who simply “cut and ran” (218), but on the other hand, he selflessly risked his life to save people high on the mountain when no one else would help him.  How can this be the same person?  Why was he willing to risk his life after the fact when he wouldn’t help people before they got in trouble?

3. On page 253, one of the Japanese climbers refuses to help people dying on the mountain with extra food or oxygen.  As he explains, “We were too tired to help.  Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality.”  Is this part of the culture of climbing—that since risking your life is part of the experience, you can’t expect rescue or basic humanity?  Do all the climbers basically respect this code of ethics?  Does Krakauer?

4. How does Krakauer help readers understand that his own story, though carefully observed and researched, might not be 100% accurate?  Where does he get information wrong, and where do others?  What makes writing this story uniquely difficult and often hurtful to the people involved?  

For Next Week: Into Thin Air, pp.148-203

For Next Week: Krakauer, Into Thin Air, pp. 148-203

Answer 2 of the 4 questions that follow:

1. One of the greatest assets to a serious climber is experience and intuition.  We see this when Göran Kropp, a master climber, decides to turn back just minutes from reaching the summit.  Hall remarks, “To turn around that close to the summit...That showed incredibly good judgment on [his] part” (153).  Even so, why does this intuition go against the culture of extreme climbers such as Hall, Bourkeev, and even Krakauer himself?  Where do we see climbers not following their inner advice? 

2. How does the close-knit community of guides and climbers break down in the fateful climb to the summit?  According to Krakauer, who is most responsible for this breakdown in communication?  What causes it?  Why might the very culture of Everest travel make it impossible for so many expeditions to succeed at once? 

3. Part of the true climbing culture is the debate over bottled oxygen.  Why do the most serious climbers refuse to use it, even though at that altitude, “Brains cells [are] dying...blood [grows] dangerously thick and sludgelike” (161)?  How does this play into the argument of who ‘deserves’ to be on Everest?  Should technology play a role in getting to the top, or should it be truly man vs. nature? 

4. In the Preface to Chapter 14, Reinhold Messner writes “The longer I climb the less important the goal seems to me, the more indifferent I become to myself...It is so pleasant to sit doing nothing—and therefore so dangerous.  Death through exhaustion is—like death through freezing—a pleasant one” (193).  How does Krakauer explain the psychological toll of climbing, which is perhaps even greater than the physical toll?  How do the battles of the mind overcome him and other travelers on the journey in potentially disastrous ways?  

For Thursday/Friday: Into Thin Air

[Note: MWF classes won't address this reading/questions until Friday; for Wednesday we'll continue on pages 1-88--see note below]

For Thursday/Friday: Krakauer, Into Thin Air, pp.89-147

1. On page 92, Krakauer writes that “Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others with a shaky hold on reality.”  Why do you think this is?  Why do so many people without the ability or background in climbing seek out Everest—often to their doom?  Consider especially the Taiwanese expedition led by “Malaku” and the South Africa expedition. 

2. For most climbers, Everest is a destination—a place to test themselves in the most extreme conditions imaginable.  For the Sherpas, however, this is their home and their culture.  Climbing for them is a way of life, and the mountain is their physical and spiritual home.  How are the climbers interfering with local culture and beliefs?  What don’t they see or understand about the Sherpas which could be dangerous for both parties? 

3. How does a climber like Sandy Pittman (who travels with laptops, printers, solar panels, and gourmet food) complicate the argument of who deserves to be on Everest?  Though she has climbing experience, she would not be on the mountain without enormous help (which she is willing to pay for).  Do you think she ‘cheapens’ the Everest experience?  Endangers it?  Or does she have as much right as anyone to attempt the summit? 

4. In Chapter Ten, Krakauer writes that “People who don’t climb mountains...tend to assume that the sport is a reckless, Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills.  But the notion that climbers are merely adrenaline junkies chasing a righteous fix is a fallacy, at least in the case of Everest” (140).  According to him, what does bring people to the mountain, and what do they hope to find there?  

For Monday Class Only!

Since very few people made it to Monday's class, I'm going to let everyone catch up and not assign any new reading.  Read up to page 88 for Wednesday and respond to the questions for Monday on Wednesday if you haven't already.  Remember, just because it's icy out doesn't mean you can't read and respond to questions--indeed, being stuck inside is a perfect time to read and write!  :)

See you on Wednesday.  

For Next Week: Krakaeur, Into Thin Air

For Next Week: Krakaeur, Into thin Air, pp. 7-89

NOTE: You can read more than these pages, of course, since we’ll be moving fairly quickly through the book.  However, our questions and discussion for Monday/Tuesday will only cover these pages.  Also, try to define any words or terms you’re not familiar with, since we might discuss some of these in class. 

Answer 2 of the 4 questions below:

1. What brings Krakaeur to accept the assignment to go to Everest in the first place?  Why does he lobby to get permission (and funds) to go all the way to the top?  How does he explain this to both his wife and the reader, even though the former is enraged at him and thinks the entire mission is “so fucking stupid and pointless?” (87). 

2. What has exploration tourism done to Everest?  How has the influx of foreigners changed the culture and environment of the region?  Do you feel tourism has improved or damaged the Sherpas way of life?  Does Krakaeur seem to have an opinion in this?

3. How do the Prefaces to each chapter illustrate the “conversation” Krakaeur is having with travel and exploration in this book?  Consider, for example, the passage from A. Alvarez that opens Chapter Six, where he writes, “Unlike your routine life, where mistakes can usually be recouped and some kind of compromise patched up, your actions, for however brief a period, are deadly serious” (79).  How does this passage—and others like it—connect to the overall story Krakaeur is trying to tell?

4. Hall’s travel company, “Adventure Consultants,” offers trips to Everest with the promise that “We will not drag you up a mountain—you will have to work hard—but we guarantee to maximize the safety and success of your adventure” (37).  Do you feel that exploration should ever become mixed with tourism?  Is it ethical to promise people a trip to the peak of Everest for a fee?  Does this downplay the danger of such an enterprise?  Does it also encourage less qualified applicants simply because they can afford it? 

Paper #1 Conference Schedule for This Week

Remember, if you haven't signed up for a conference, the spaces between times suggest openings.  Suggest a time and I'll try to fit you in this week.  

Tuesday, February 10

11:00 Colton
11:10 Courtney
11: 20 Anna
11:30 Hayden B.
11:40 Rachel R.
11:50 John F.
12:00 Bessie
12:10 Martha
12:20 Terra

1:30 Tyler C.

2:00 Roland

Wednesday, February 11
11:00 Christian
11:10 Ashlyn T.
11:20 Chase 
11:30 Andrew N.
11:40 Andrew D.
11:50 John W.
12:00 Faith
12:10 Mikayla
12:20 Walter 

1:00 Elyse

1:30 Clarissa

2:00 Skye

2:20 Neekie

Thursday, February 12
11:00 Kaylee
11:10 Vanessa
11:20 Richard 
11:30 Nikolette
11:40 Preston
11:50 Garrett
12:00 Jose
12:10 Ryan
12:20 Savannah

1:50 Lulu

Friday. February 13
11:00 Angel
11:10 Priscilla
11:20 Amelia
11:30 Amber
11:40 Kalli
11:50 Robert F.

12:10 Will

For This Week: Daughter of Danang

Questions for Daughter of Danang (2003)

NOTE: These questions are due on Thursday for TR classes and Friday for MWF classes.  

Answer 2 of the 4 questions below in a short response based on our viewing in Tuesday’s class.  We’ll finish the film on Thursday, so you can see if your ideas and predictions are correct.

1. Why do you think Heidi is really traveling to Vietnam?  What does she want to find besides her mother, sisters, etc.?  Do you feel she is culturally prepared for what she encounters there?  If not, what might she have done to better prepare for this journey?

2. Is Heidi American or Vietnamese?  How does she and others in the film weigh in on this question?  What does it ultimately mean to be of one culture and not another?  Is it speaking the language?  Knowing the culture?  Or simply one’s family and racial identity?  Can you be part of a culture you don’t even know you’re part of?  Or, conversely, can you decide to be part of a culture that others would deny you? 

3. What do you think the outcome of Heidi’s trip will be?  She only planned a relatively short, 7-day journey to Vietnam, and doesn’t seem to have long-term plans for coming back and/or bringing people back with her.  How might this shape the end of their trip and the future for both families? 

4. For most Americans today, this film is a journey into a history we know relatively little about: the Vietnam War.  How is this film trying to bring back lost pieces of history so that we can better understand our own culture?  What surprised or confused you about the history of the war as presented in the film?  Related to this, why is it important to know the history of the war to understand Heidi and her mother’s story?  

Reminders for Next Week

Remember that Paper #1 is due on Monday for MWF classes and Tuesday for TR classes.  There is no class on Monday for MWF classes; however, TR classes will still meet on Tuesday.  

We will start watching the film Daughter of Danang next week, and I will give you questions to respond to like a traditional reading.  However, we will take a reading break for 2 weeks to watch the film and for individual conferences over Paper #1 (we'll sign up for those next week).  

Good luck on your first paper!  See you next week.  

Integrating Quotations for Paper #1

Integrating Quotations in Paper #1 (and all others!)

Using Quotes in your paper:

“The urbex life is at heart a form of play, a pressure valve to regulate the atmospheric crush of daily life.  Explo, at his programming job, might daydream of a manhole in the floor of his cubicle, of some escape from the mundane requirements of society.  Once  you begin playing this game, the entire world becomes filled with secret doors” (Power 153). 

The Quotation Sandwich: Introduction + Quotation + Response

As Power explains in his essay, “Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky,” “Once  you begin playing this game, the entire world becomes filled with secret doors” (153). 

OR,

As Power writes in his essay, “The urbex life is at heart a form of play, a pressure valve to regulate the atmospheric crush of daily life.  Explo, at his programming job, might daydream of a manhole in the floor of his cubicle, of some escape from the mundane requirements of society.  Once  you begin playing this game, the entire world becomes filled with secret doors” (153). 

Then, Respond...

This passage is important because instead of dismissing these travelers as bored, spoiled kids looking for a thrill, it makes us realize that we all share the essential desire behind urbex.  We all want to find an escape from the world, a window to a new life, or at least a beautiful experience away from the crush of homework, traffic, and bills.  If we can do that in our own backyard, then why not try?  Why not try to see a more exciting world without having to go anywhere? 

The Works Cited Page

Power, Matthew.  “Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky.”  The Best American Travel

               Writing 2014.  Ed. Paul Theroux. 

Always list the author + article/book + where it appears (if necessary) + all publication information (editor, publisher, date, etc.). 

Make sure you include all sources you quote in your paper in the Works Cited. 

Also be sure that the in-text citation matches the Works Cited page.  If you quote from “Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky,” be sure that you identify the author & article so we can find the full citation in your Works Cited page.

And of course, anything you borrow from an essay, whether ideas or actual words, must be quoted.  Otherwise it’s plagiarism.  The idea is to always acknowledge the source of ideas or phrases that are not your own.

Paper #1 Assignment (see below for MWF/TR due dates)

Paper #1: Traveling to ECU

For your first paper, I want you to become part of the “conversation” of travel that we’ve read about in our first four essays.  However, I also want you to contribute your own travels and experiences in a way we can all appreciate.  To do this, I want you to write about your first experiences exploring ECU (or another college, if you have attended elsewhere), when you were still an “outsider” looking into a foreign culture.  Discuss what you saw before you understood the culture of classes, studying, dorms, clubs, games, Ada, etc., and how you learned to understand this strange new world.  Try to limit your paper to a few specific events so you can examine and discuss them in the same way as our other travel writers.

When writing, consider some of the themes each essay explores and relate it to your own experience becoming part of the ECU culture (even if you’re still learning it):

• Swick A Moving Experience: the importance of the “bad” travel experience; the loneliness and sadness of travel; the importance of being a “camera”
• Key, Fifty Shades of Greyhound: the idea of “Bus People”—how a specific space or environment can create a culture; how we acclimate to this culture even against our will
• 460 Days: how stereotypes cause resentment and misunderstanding; the implications of traveling to another culture for yourself and others; the importance of finding freedom even in prison
• Power, Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky: exploring worlds that other people don’t know or care about; making your own path in the world, even when others consider it off-limits or undesirable
• Shoutmatoff, The Last of Eden: learning the value of marginalized people/cultures; seeing the world through another pair of eyes; the conflict of opposing cultures  

Besides telling your own travel story, I want you to respond to at least 2 of the essays we read for class (or another essay in the book we didn’t read): use these essays to support or expand your ideas.  Imagine that you’re at a round table discussion of travel, and you story is a response to the other authors sitting and speaking beside you.  How can their travels and ideas complement your own?  Or how might you respond or even disagree with theirs?  Remember, writing is always a conversation of ideas, so you can’t just write about yourself—you have to respond to the other writers/thinkers out there.  When you write about travel, you’re entering into an old and very vocal conversation. 

REQUIREMENTS

• 3-4 pages double spaced
• Use at least 2 essays from Best American Travel Writings 2014
• Quote and cite essays according to MLA format, along with a Works Cited page’
• For TR class: Due Tuesday, February 3rd by 5pm [in my office—no e-mails]
• For MWF class: Due Monday, February 2nd by 5pm [in my office—no emails]

Final Reading from BATW: The Last of Eden (pp.204-223)--sorry for the delay, it didn't post the first time!

Final Reading from The Best American Travel Writing 2014:

Shoumatoff, “The Last of Eden” (pp.204-223)

Part I: Definitions

gravitas (204)

indigenous (205)

proletariat (206)
genocide (207)

proliferating (211)

sedentary (212)

assimilating (213)

deranged (214)

demarcated (219)

insidiously (219)

BONUS: Who is Gauguin? (217)

Part II: Answer 2 of the 4 questions in a short paragraph 

1. Why is the Brazilian government reluctant to enforce the removal of the invasores from the traditional lands of the Awá and other tribes?  If they are indeed “invaders,” shouldn’t they be removed for the good of Brazil’s indigenous peoples?  Or do the needs of the many (Brazil) outweigh the needs of the few in this case?  Consider that there are only about 56 of the Awá tribe in existence. 

2. As Shoumatoff writes early in the essay, “All these communications and interactions are going on that our contingent from the modern world is dead to” (204).  In other words, the Awá see and communicate with a world that most of us scarcely even knew existed.  Based on this, how does looking at the world through the lens of Awá culture change how the author sees the world?  What common ideas/values change from their perspective?  Are these changes useful or valuable to us?  Or are they simply different or unique? 

3. When Shoumatoff asks his driver, a mixed-raced “caboclo” what tribe he is from, the driver curly replies, “I’m Brazilian” (218).  Why might this be a touchy subject for him?  In a culture full of diverse peoples and languages, why does race become such an important issue?  Indeed, why is race at the heart of the conflict between the isolados and the invasores? 

4. What should be done about the other isolados out in the rain forest, the tribes that have yet to be contracted or largely refuse contact?  Should they be contacted for their own good, to protect them?  Or should the Brazilian government and others simply let them alone and protect them from afar?  Are both options potentially dangerous to the tribes in question?